Persona 5 Sharing Features Block Explained By Atlus

I get where they are coming from, but…

This is the age of sharing media on the games you are playing online, across social networks, generating more word of mouth for your game. But the latest and greatest major game to release, Persona 5, appears to block the PS4’s sharing features entirely- that’s right, when you are playing Persona 5, you can’t stream it, you can’t record it, you can’t even take a screenshot of it. All sharing features of the game are blocked.

Basically, if you want to share your play through of Persona 5 online, you best have dedicated equipment- otherwise, you’re not going to be able to do it.

Why is this the case? Polygon reached out to Atlus for a comment on this blocking, which seems almost arbitrary, and Atlus responded with an explanation. “This being a Japanese title with solely a single-playthrough story means Japan is very wary about it. Sharing is currently blocked through the native PS4 UI.”

Basically, it sounds like Atlus’ Japanese guys aren’t on board with it- they want to keep the story unspoiled, something that liberal sharing of screens and videos may not allow for. While I empathize with them to a degree, if they did care that much about the story not being spoiled, maybe they wouldn’t have eight months between the Japanese release and the western one?

Persona 5 is out on April 4 on PS4 and PS3, in North America and Europe.